The life and career of William N. Copley (1919–1996) spans an exciting if little-known period in American art. As a gallery owner in California, Copley presented such prominent exponents of surrealism as René Magritte, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Joseph Cornell, and Man Ray, but in 1947 he decided to become a painter himself. Copley moved to Paris, where he developed his own unmistakable style, and his seemingly banal, cartoonish, yet unquestionably subversive works are seen today as a link between surrealism and pop art. In his emphasis on bold, naive outline and his occasional use of text, Copley is now also considered a forerunner of the graffiti art practiced by artists like Keith Haring. In 83 color images, this monograph reproduces a broad selection of Copley's abstracted figures—his cowboys and pin-up girls, his erotic fantasies and tongue-in-cheek literary illustrations—which he developed from classic American myths, everyday experiences, and the world of sexual fetishes, catalogued without judgment.